The Honors College’s Community Health Worker (CHW) initiative, directed by Dan Price, has received a 2018 Shelby Hodge Vision Award from the AIDS Foundation Houston (AFH). The annual recognition honors groundbreaking outreach work in communities with high HIV transmission rates. The award was presented on Nov. 30 at the foundation’s World AIDS Day Luncheon, which featured keynote speaker Tituss Burgess, best known for his work on “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Price accepted the award on behalf of the program.

According to the AIDS Foundation website, “Community Health Workers (CHWs) have always stood for a more human connection to healthcare. The UH Honors team, with help from experts across disciplines, is creating a network that allows the CHWs to address the needs of the community through collaborative projects between UH, local non-profits like Aids Foundation Houston, and the CHWs embedded in the community.”

Now in its third year, the CHW initiative was developed by Price as a network of engaged advocates for health in communities. Through the program, UH students train side-by-side with community members. All who participate learn through project-based instruction while earning a Licensed Community Health Worker certification from the Texas Department of State Health Services.